A Carbohydrate found on the surface of one of the most virulent strains of Clostridium Difficile has been synthesized by scientists in Germany.
This piece of research can prove to be an important breakthrough in the Vaccine development programme against the infection.
C.Difficile is a species of Gram-positive bacteria of the genus Clostridium that remains in a dormant form (i.e. spores) inside the colon until a person pops an antibiotic pill. The antibiotics in its course of action also destroys the normal gut flora(the good bacteria) leading to an overgrowth of C. difficile, which flourishes under these conditions. This results in the C.difficile getting converted into its active form and producing toxins which damages the gut wall, resulting in bloody diarrhoea and pseudomembraneous colitis.
C.difficile infections are one of the most common Nosocomial infections worldwide and are the leading cause of death in elderly and those with weakened immune system.Peter Seeberger, who led the team that carried out the research at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam was qouted as saying"C. difficile is on the rise in industrialised countries.There is a need for a vaccine but it's a big challenge."
Treatment with antibiotics is not so effective because of increasing resistance and tough nature of bacterial spores..The majority of severe infections are caused by just one hypervirulant strain - type 027.
To fight this particular strain, Seeberger and his team synthesised the repeating unit of a carbohydrate -pentasaccharide PS-1 - that is only found on the surface of type 027. The linear synthesis involved using one precursor molecule to make four different building blocks, making an efficient process. Their aim is to use PS-1 to create a vaccine to enable the immune system to recognise it, make antibodies against it and mount a response against the infection.
This piece of research can prove to be an important breakthrough in the Vaccine development programme against the infection.
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| C.Difficile bacterium |
C.difficile infections are one of the most common Nosocomial infections worldwide and are the leading cause of death in elderly and those with weakened immune system.Peter Seeberger, who led the team that carried out the research at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam was qouted as saying"C. difficile is on the rise in industrialised countries.There is a need for a vaccine but it's a big challenge."
Treatment with antibiotics is not so effective because of increasing resistance and tough nature of bacterial spores..The majority of severe infections are caused by just one hypervirulant strain - type 027.
To fight this particular strain, Seeberger and his team synthesised the repeating unit of a carbohydrate -pentasaccharide PS-1 - that is only found on the surface of type 027. The linear synthesis involved using one precursor molecule to make four different building blocks, making an efficient process. Their aim is to use PS-1 to create a vaccine to enable the immune system to recognise it, make antibodies against it and mount a response against the infection.
'It is elegant chemistry and shows that if you master the challenges of synthetic carbohydrate chemistry, you can produce something that's medically useful,' says Gerd Wagner, a medicinal chemistry expert at King's College London, UK, who agrees that the research 'opens the door to exploring a vaccine candidate'.
Seeberger's team was also the first to synthesize PS-2, a carbohydrate found on all strains of C. difficile. He states the possibility of 'combining PS-1 and PS-2 in a single vaccine candidate for better coverage'. His team has begun tests using PS-1 attached to a protein carrier to determine whether animals can create antibodies against it. It will be years before a vaccine is available, he says, but he emphasizes that PS-1 and PS-2 are both promising candidates!!
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